Could inefficiency save us?

👋 Hello and welcome Zach, Riju, Victoria, Paula and Sadia. It's wonderful to have you here! Click reply if you have questions, suggestions or just want to say hello.

Consistency is the boring unsung hero of great communications and fundraising programs. I wrote up some ideas for reclaiming your consistency.

Tech, efficiency, and power.

These are topics for a book, not a likely to be skipped over newsletter blurb.

I've seen several things this week - articles, LinkedIn comments, the posting of extraordinarily well armed soldiers on residential streets - that all converge around power and the need to demonstrate it.

So many conversations about AI in journalism, nonprofits, and organizing hang on becoming more efficient. Or, to be blunt, extracting more money from the right people.

I'm sorry to tell you this but efficiency is not the problem.

The problem is that for too long we've not included people in the conversations, deliberations, and actions that build meaning, community, and power.

Cutting government funding is not about efficiency. It's about power.

Deploying AI in hopes of making our organizations more efficient in the face of funding cuts is not going to help us reclaim power. It is going to make us more dependent on those who control the technology.

This isn't an "AI is bad" issue. Technology, particularly as it relates to narratives of efficiency and security, has always been wielded to control or take power.

If we invest in AI without recognizing (and gaining and using) power, are we also advancing an AI-driven security state that can be used to control our economic, educational, employment and other choices?

These are big not easily solved questions. I guess my message would be that efficiency won't save us. But the wildly inefficient work of directly serving and supporting our communities just might.

Bright Ideas

A few good reads...

• In Five realities our narrators don't want to reckon with, Jason Lewis offers a clear take on how fundraising and the positioning of nonprofits is systemically, not tactically, broken. TL;DR: You won't fix falling trust with A/B tests.
• David Chivers wrote a helpful guide to recruiting and onboarding AI talent for Lenfest Institute.
• Trump's budget bill is having some of its biggest impacts in Indigenous communities. We shouldn't be surprised. But we should be infuriated. Two stories: How tribal radio stations are preparing for a future without Corporation for Public Broadcasting by Neel Dhanesha for Nieman Lab. And Native News Online reports on how cuts to the Solar for All program threaten the energy security of Tribal Nations.
• The case for civic abundance by Will Friedman gets at one of a glaring and unsettling gap in the "abundance" conversation - the idea that our problems are solved through less public participation and more "efficient" decision making. Abundance should not be a euphemism for strongman leadership that cannibalizes and weakens civic life.

Future Community Jobs

These are roles spotted in the last week Check out the full list here as well as resources page for job seekers. Want to post a job? Send an email.

🗞️ Audience, content, journalism and news roles

• Associate Director, Consumer Strategy and Growth : The Atlantic [New York City]
• Head of News, HuffPost : BuzzFeed, Inc. [New York City or Washington, DC]
• Program Manager, Communities of Practice : Solutions Journalism Network [Remote in the US]
• Senior Newsletter Marketing Manager : US News and World Report [New York City / Washington, DC]
• Senior Email Manager, Strategy & Personalization : Minnesota Star Tribune [Minneapolis]
• Associate Editor : Lawfare Media [Washington, DC]
• Senior Audience Engagement Editor : The Guardian [New York City]

🗣️ Communications

• Digital Communications Manager : Center for Tech and Civic Life [Chicago / Remote in the US]
• Director of Communications and Marketing, PA-DE : The Nature Conservancy [Conshohocken, PA]
• Director of Communications : Dramatists Guild Foundation [New York City / Remote]
• Associate, Digital Content Editor : Aspen Institute [Washington, DC]
• Director, Communications and Public Affairs : Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute [Washington, DC]

⚡ Nonprofit Roles

• Digital Mobilisation Officer : Hope Not Hate [London / Remote in the UK]
• Senior Finance Officer : Movement Voter Project [Remote]
• Director, Government Affairs : Partnership for Public Service [Washington, DC]
• Executive Director : Democracy Strategy Partners [Remote]
• Senior Social Media and Community Manager : Hey Jane [Remote in the US]
• Colorado Senior Strategy and Program Director : America Votes [Denver]
• Special Projects Data Director : America Votes [Washington, DC]
• Senior Digital Strategist : Smithsonian Institution [Washington, DC]
• Massachusetts State Organizer and Campaigner : Dayenu [Remote in Massachusetts]
• California Conservation Manager : The Wilderness Society [Los Angeles preferred / Southern California]

💰 Fundraising and Development

• Development Communications Manager : Brown Girls Doc Mafia [New York City]
• Manager, Direct Response Marketing : World Wildlife Fund [Washington, DC]
• Senior Manager, Donor Engagement : Global Fund for Women [Washington, DC / Remote]
• Senior Officer, Standard Retention : International Rescue Committee [Remote / New York City]
• Senior Research Analyst, Giving and Impact : The Wilderness Society [Washington, DC / Remote considered]

💸 Foundations and Philanthropy

• Editor : Open Philanthropy [Remote / New York City / San Francisco / Washington, DC]
• Research Manager : Environmental Grantmakers Association [New York City preferred / Washington, DC]
• Senior Partnerships Officer : Proteus Fund [New York City / Remote]
• Executive Director : Media Democracy Fund [Remote / East Coast US preferred]

💻 Agencies, politics, products, projects & more

• Senior Data Engineer : Planned Parenthood [New York City or Washington, DC]
• Full Stack Developer : Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [Remote]
• Digital Influencer and Partnerships Specialist : Rally [Los Angeles]
• Data Scientist : Priorities USA [Remote in the US]

Future Community is a product of Ted Fickes and Bright+3. Reply or visit Bright+3 to get in touch and learn more about our work.